Why Harvard’s NCAA win is even more astonishing

There’s room in big-time college sports for a Crimson that isn’t riding a Tide. Fourteenth-seeded Harvard’s first-ever March Madness victory Thursday, 68-62 over third-seeded New Mexico, is even more astounding when you consider this:

–The team’s two co-captains withdrew from school at the start of the year because of the school’s huge cheating scandal, which forced dozens of students to withdraw for two to four semesters. By withdrawing early rather than wait for the disciplinary committee to act, Kyle Casey and Brandyn Curry likely preserved a year of eligibility next season.

–Harvard, like other Ivy League schools, gives no athletic scholarships. That may not be as big a drawback as it used to be, though, because Harvard has such a big endowment it can afford to pick up the entire tab for all students whose families earn less than $65,000.

Making up for these drawbacks is a fruit of the Bobby Knight/Mike Krzyzewski coaching tree. Fifth-year coach Tommy Amaker is a former guard and assistant coach under Coach K at Duke and head coach at Michigan.

With his success in Cambridge, Amaker joins the short list of favorites to succeed Coach K when and if he retires. Given their relative results, he’s probably a lot higher on the list than his former Blue Devil backcourt mate, Stanford coach Johnny Dawkins. But in the meantime, let the good times roll in Cambridge.